“Ahead of meetings that could lead to changes in how the U.S. Olympic Committee governs individual sports, the organization on Monday announced big changes in its board of directors,” reports The Gazette in Colorado Springs. “The top board post goes to Susanne Lyons, who filled in as CEO this year after a scandal-driven shake-up at the Colorado Springs headquarters. With Lyons heading the board and new CEO Sarah Hirshland on the job, the USOC will be led by women for the first time.”
“The thing is, Jeff Eyser knows some, maybe even more than some, of the shows he works on are trash,” reports The Greeley Tribune. “He worked on “Bad Girls Club,” for 15 of the 17 seasons of it, and the show was about as classy as the title suggests. Eyser, who was raised here and graduated from Greeley Central High School in 2002, now does a lot of work for MTV. MTV does good things, but it’s also the channel that produces “Jersey Shore,” a huge hit but not exactly Masterpiece Theater. The thing is, Eyser doesn’t necessarily like reality shows, but he does like working on them. They allow him the most creativity for what he does. They also give him a way to show off what he does. And he’s good at what he does. He’s successful at it, and it’s a good, fun way to make a living.”
“A federal judge dismissed the case of a lawsuit an energy company brought over the government’s cancellation of oil and gas leases in the Thompson Divide area, about two and a half months after a settlement was reached in the case,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “Wilderness Workshop staff attorney Peter Hart said in a news release that the dismissal of the case in a Sept. 4 order by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn ‘is another day to celebrate in our long campaign to protect the Divide.'”
“Holli Stetson helped cement her late father Gerry Boland’s memory Monday as she and three elected officials, including Gov. John Hickenlooper, shoveled the final scoops of dirt to secure a newly planted crab apple tree’s roots in the ground in Lyons,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “The ceremonial planting in Boland’s honor capped a memorial to the 2013 flood, hosted by one of the hardest-hit towns. The event both celebrated progresses made and commemorated losses suffered across Colorado, including Boland’s death. About 100 people, including about a dozen high school students who were permitted to attend, gathered in the rehabilitated Bohn Park to reflect on the disaster and the ensuing recovery five years later. Before he and Sen. Michael Bennet and Lyons Mayor Connie Sullivan helped plant the tree, Hickenlooper joined several officials from local governments and state and federal agencies that funded the recovery efforts in Colorado — including more than $300 million in Boulder County — in addressing the gathering.”
“1North’s vegetables are fueled by the sun — and some fish poo converted into aquaponic fertilizer,” reports The Steamboat Pilot. “At the new solar aquaponic farm in north Hayden, garden operator and CEO Jay Hirschfeld hopes to sell his tilapia, microgreens, herbs and vegetables to restaurants in Steamboat Springs. Soon, he also wants to sell some tree fruits, but, first, his olive, fig, lime and other fruit trees need to mature.”
“The Roaring Fork Valley lost an icon last Tuesday when writer, historian and western personality Anita Witt took her final ride into the sunset,” reports The Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. “Witt was a true cowgirl, from her upbringing in Wichita, Kansas, to her five decades living on her ranch in Missouri Heights outside of Carbondale. A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Witt taught physical education for two years before riding after her dream of being an entertainer.”
“In the days that followed the fateful events of Sept. 11, 2001, Capt. David Bentley, a firefighter and EMT with the Freeport (NY) Emergency Rescue Company 9, was dispatched to lower Manhattan,” reports The Pueblo Chieftain. “We did not respond on the 11th,” Bentley said. “We were held in quarters, not knowing if there be would other attacks surrounding New York City. We had to be ready to respond to wherever. Armed U.S. fighter jets would be patrolling the skies, even over the suburbs of Long Island.” Bentley, along with Assistant Fire Chief John Wensley and four fellow crewmen, joined 21 heavy duty rescue rigs from Long Island, with an objective to provide support and lighting for a mission that was, tragically, more recovery than rescue.”
“A sculpture titled ‘Shimmering Hues to Solar Muse,’ scheduled to be placed on the side of Loveland’s new parking garage at The Foundry, had to be canceled due to metal price increases brought on by import tariffs and commodity speculation, city manager Steve Adams told the Loveland City Council via memo Friday,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The sculpture was to feature the sun with a human face and wavy flames along two sides of the new garage, which is now open to the public. The sculpting team Michael Stutz and James Dinh of Los Angeles, Calif., notified the city of Loveland earlier this month that the higher prices meant the project scope needed to be shrunk by half, perhaps by installing art on only one of the two walls planned, scaling the sculpture smaller, or eliminating the lighting elements.”
“Streamflows in the Upper Eagle River Valley are approaching record lows this summer, the result of a continuing drought and summer monsoon rains that never came,” reports Vail Daily. “According to Diane Johnson, communications and public affairs manager for the Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, this year’s late-summer streamflows are currently below those recorded in 2002, the previous record-low year. In an email, Johnson wrote that September rains in that year boosted streamflows to near-normal levels. Those rains haven’t come this year.”
“The University of Colorado Board of Regents is set to vote Friday on policies defining academic freedom and freedom of expression,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “The regents are scheduled for a two-day board meeting Thursday and Friday at the Anschutz Medical Campus, which will include presentations from potential executive search firms for President Bruce Benson’s replacement Thursday and a vote on the policy changes Friday. The new policies, if approved, will take effect Jan. 1 and will outline for the first time how CU defines and differentiates between academic freedom and freedom of expression. ‘There has been a fair amount of dispute around the country about freedom of speech on college campuses and a misunderstanding about how it is that freedom of expression occurs on a college campus versus in a classroom,’ said Patrick O’Rourke, CU vice president of university counsel and secretary to the Board of Regents. ‘We recognized that there was enough going on nationally that it made sense for us to address this before we had a dispute.'”
“The Summit County commissioners are scheduled on Tuesday to take up a request from Vail Resorts seeking to keep 102 additional bunk beds for employee housing at Keystone Ski Resort for up to two more winters,” reports Summit Daily. “The county previously agreed to the company’s request to allow 102 additional beds, creating dorm-like accommodations, at the Tenderfoot housing project starting with the 2015-16 ski season. In the agreement, the resort was given permission to keep the bunk beds for up to three ski seasons, ending with the 2017-18 season. Vail Resorts is now looking to extend that agreement for up to two more years, but the county may be less than agreeable with officials previously warning the resort they would not allow the beds to become permanent.”
“The Cañon City School Board approved a resolution in support of Amendment 73 during Monday’s school board meeting,” reports The Cañon City Daily Record. “‘It’s an issue that touches both rural and urban (schools) throughout the state,’ Superintendent George Welsh said. Amendment 73 is a statewide school funding initiative that will increase income taxes for certain tax filers and business in order to stabilize and increase funding. Amendment 73 also will lower property taxes for business property owners, farmers and ranchers. The passing of Amendment 73 would increase Colorado’s total investment in public education by $1.6 billion annually and would grant $6 million to Cañon City School District each school year.”
“Denver made history in 1972, when its voters decided to reject the Winter Olympic Games that had been scheduled for the city in 1976,” reports The Denver Post. “Now, the spirit of ’76 is in the air again: A group of political organizers, including former Gov. Dick Lamm, are launching a campaign that could give Denver voters the ultimate decision on the city’s financial involvement in a potential bid for the Games. ‘Denver voters need a voice, especially when there’s more abundant resources,’ said Tony Pigford, an organizer of the new campaign and a candidate for Denver City Council. “Let them decide if they want to spend it on a really risky mega project.
